do ho suh: fallen star now open to the public

‘fallen star’ by do-ho suh, 2012 all images courtesy stewart collection

do-ho suh’s work ‘fallen star’ has opened to the public as the 18th sculpture of the university of san diego’s stuart collection. the stuart collection was developed to enhance the intellectual pursuits and cultural interests of the student body. do-ho suh has created the cottage rooftop installation in the vein of his continued exploration of the conception of home and cultural displacement. ‘fallen star’ recalls the perception of one’s surroundings existing as both familiar and foreign, and this way, the piece speaks to the populous of UCSD and the disjointed feeling many students may experience in recalling the notion of ‘home’.

in this actualization of do-ho suh’s memory of a space, he has created a small home which seems to have been suddenly moved 100 feet from a stable resting place on the ground to the ledge of a towering seven story school building situated in the center of the southern california campus. ‘fallen star’ teeters on the corner and edge of UCSD’s jacobs hall, also known as ‘engineering building 1’. the sculpture, cantilevered at an angle of approximately ten degrees with its wood floor interior tilted by four degrees, measures 15 x 18 feet, weighing 70,000 pounds. it is permanently affixed to the roof of the university structure.

when approaching the precariously balanced cottage, one may wander through a small garden with a brick path framed by tomatoes, wisteria vines and plum tree, also designed by the artist. upon either entering or peering into ‘fallen star’, one may notice the interior is fully furnished, accessorized with items such as a television, books, chandelier, framed photos, and lighting. all can be viewed from the street, flickering on the ledge of the engineering hall. adding to the cozy quality of the tilted work, at various points through out the day, steam simulating smoke rises from the chimney.

funding for ‘fallen star’ has been made possible through both private donations and a grant from the national endowment for the arts’ program for access to artistic excellence.

if you are interested in learning more, see designboom’s previous coverage of ‘fallen star’, investigating the installation of the work in the beginning of 2012.

an interior view of ‘fallen star’

the images framed on the mantle of the fireplace are baby pictures of deans of the UC san diego jacobs school of engineering; other house photos are from donors’ families and other individuals connected to the sculptural piece.

the entrance to the home tips down towards the roof of the school’s building

the home is placed on UCSD’s jacobs school of engineering building 1, tilted at a 10 degree angle

looking up to the sculpture, the viewer may question whether or not the piece will fall over the side of the building entirely, yet ‘fallen star’ is secured snugly to the side of the structure’s rooftop

the small home seems to balance on the corner of the UCSD jacobs school of engineering building 1

‘fallen star’ provides a view of the campus and the torrey pines mesa from the roof top garden. the house was built to conform to california earthquake building codes, and reinforced to withstand winds up to 100 mph.

a view of the ‘fallen star’ at dusk